The History of Gangs in New Zealand

Seminar presented by Dr Jarrod Gilbert at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage on 5 March 2014.

Rape, murder, violence and drugs: gangs are synonymous with them all. Despite having a significant presence in New Zealand since the 1950s, though, our gangs have been under-researched and remain poorly understood. One reason for this is the difficulty of doing fieldwork.

This seminar looks at the problems of researching gangs, but also the problems encountered when research findings clash with popular and official understandings.

Between 2002 and 2010 Jarrod Gilbert undertook the most comprehensive study ever done on gangs in New Zealand, and in 2013 he published Patched: The History of Gangs in New Zealand. Patched won the Peoples Choice category at the 2013 New Zealand Post Book Awards and was a finalist for best non-fiction book.

Jarrod lectures at the University of Canterbury and is the lead researcher at Independent Research Solutions. He is currently working on a book titled Murder: A New Zealand History.